‘DC X Sonic The Hedgehog’ #1 Is Joyful, Silly Fun
by Tony Thornley
The best kinds of crossovers give fans of one property a reason to check out the other while having fun with the whole affair. DC X Sonic The Hedgehog #1 nails it with an incredibly fun debut.
Ian Flynn, Adam Bryce Thomas, Matt Herms and Becca Carey write the team-up of a lifetime.
It’s a moment of calm in Sonic’s little corner of Earth until the Parademons arrive. Now Team Sonic are running against time to stop Darkseid’s forces before he conquers their Earth. Luckily they have help as the Justice League have followed their ultimate foe. Even their combined powers may not be enough to stop Darkseid once he’s acquired the Chaos Emeralds…
The best thing that could have happened for this story was having one of the regular Sonic creative teams on board. Flynn and Thomas are frequent Sonic creators. Given that, they nailed this.
Flynn knows that the concept is inherently silly, so he leans in. Sonic and the Flash instantly start competing with each other. Batman and Shadow compare tragedies. It goes on down the line, and it makes for such a fun read. Darkseid’s invasion is played fairly straight, and the issue’s only real fault is that it does create a few unintentional comedy moments that don’t totally land. Otherwise, the characters click immediately, the threat feels real and the stakes are immediately established.
Thomas blends the two worlds together just right. He establishes Sonic’s Earth first, using Flynn’s script to slowly blend the DC elements (and yes, Darkseid’s giant head is on page one, but let’s be real — that’s more Eggman than Fourth World). Outside the Darkseid ship, it’s paced and laid out just right — we start with simply a blur and Superman’s shield before the Flash bursts onto the page. By including Thomas instead of a DC artist, the Justice League blends right into Sonic’s world while staying on model. It’s exactly right for what the crossover needed.
Herms steps into Sonic’s world perfectly. His colors are bright without being garish. It doesn’t downplay the world-ending stakes, but it makes it clear that this is a story about Sonic’s worlds and the threats there, not the DCU. Carey’s letters do the same, and she puts a remarkable amount of information on the page while still keeping the story flowing.
DC X Sonic The Hedgehog #1 is available now from DC Comics.
Overview
I enjoyed this story so much. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be, and pulled it off. I’m extremely excited for the rest of the story.
